Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo were one of the couples that fans were most looking forward to seeing at the 2025 CMA Awards.

Not only is Jelly one of the hottest headliners in the genre right now, but many thought he might debut his newly shaved face — a look we’ve never seen before from Jelly — on the red carpet.

But the couple skipped the awards show on Wednesday night (Nov. 19). Neither of them offered any official explanation for why they didn’t come, but there are some clues, and we’ve got a few theories as to what might have played into that decision.

Bunnie Xo’s TikTok Post Before the Show Alluded to Staying In

The simplest explanation for why the couple didn’t attend the CMA Awards is — well, they’ve been busy, and they need some downtime.

Bunnie shared a TikTok video this week in which she lip-synced to audio about being too tired to go out.

“I love it when people ask me, ‘Are you free tonight?’ ‘No. I’m tired. Old. Back hurts,'” that audio says. The video shows Bunnie at home hanging out with her dog Chachi.

It’s a light-hearted video, but Jelly and Bunnie both have good reason to be tired. She’s been open about her current IVF journey as the couple try for a baby, which has brought significant physical and mental ups and downs.

Meanwhile, Jelly recently came back from a big international tour. He’s spoken about the high points of this big career milestone, but he doesn’t shy away from the low points, either.

Jelly Roll Has Been Struggling With Mental Health

In New Zealand, he canceled a show due to illness — a rarity for Jelly.

The singer also got candid about how the tour affected his mental health during a November appearance on the No Filter podcast. In that conversation, the singer admitted that he struggled being alone and away from his support system.

He said he was “doing the worst mentally I’ve done in a long time.”

The photos, lights and commotion of an awards show can be a lot of stress, especially when an artist isn’t feeling their best. And fans already know that Jelly’s not afraid to step away when he needs a break.

Early this year, the singer skipped the Grammy Awards despite the fact that he was in Los Angeles just a few days prior to the show.

Before Grammys day, his stylist even spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about the outfit Jelly had picked out, suggesting that he intended to attend.

Jelly didn’t offer any explanation for that absence, either. If he did make a game-time decision to skip the Grammys, it would have been simple enough to do: He wasn’t booked for performer or presenter duties, and though he was up for two Grammy awards that night, he lost both during the pre-show Premiere Ceremony.

Which brings us to our final theory about why Jelly might have chosen to sit out the 2025 CMA Awards.

His duet with Brandon Lake, “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” earned a Musical Event of the Year nod, and Jelly celebrated it when the nominees list came out in September.

But he was shut out of every other category on the list, despite the fact that his Beautifully Broken album was released during the eligibility period, and he’s been touring and performing pretty much everywhere this year.

Even more shocking was the sharp decline from the 2024 CMAs, where he was nominated for three trophies, including Entertainer of the Year.

Jelly hasn’t expressed any disappointment over the snub. In fact, he’s had nothing but gratitude to share about his experiences with the CMA. But it would be tough to fault him for sitting out an awards show that, to put it plain, did him dirty this year.